Media and Press

Keep Oregon’s Rivers Flowing with a Gift from a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)

Across Oregon, compromised streamflows and fish passage barriers are threatening native salmon and steelhead, birds, amphibians, and wildlife — as well as disrupting the ecosystems and communities that depend on healthy rivers. That’s why, for over 40 years, WaterWatch has worked to protect and restore natural streamflows and groundwater to ensure our rivers have enough water […]

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Thornburgh Resort Site in Central Oregon Hits Another Water Rights Roadblock

By Emily Cureton Cook  |  April 6, 2025  |  Oregon Public Broadcasting A Deschutes County Circuit Court judge recently dealt a blow to plans for the much-contested Thornburgh resort in Central Oregon.  In a March 31st opinion, Judge Raymond Crutchley shot down a petition brought by the developer against state regulators over access to groundwater

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Bipartisan Groundwater Proposal Draws Bipartisan Opposition

By Mateusz Perkowski  |  March 31, 2025 |  Capital Press Bipartian legislation meant to staunch groundwater depletion in Oregon’s Harney Basin by bolstering voluntary conservation measures is drawing opposition from across the political spectrum. Though House Bill 3800 received support from some farmers and community leaders at a recent hearing, the proposal was characterized as

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Streamlined Water Rights Dispute Procedures Raise Due Process Fears

By Mateusz Perkowski  |  March 20, 2025  |  Capital Press Two Oregon lawmakers want to streamline how water rights disputes are resolved but the proposal is drawing criticism from organizations representing farmers and environmentalists. The amount of time needed to process certain water rights applications has been the subject of “constant complaints,” but grumbling won’t

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Oregon Proposals Clash Over Water Rights Transfer Reviews

By Mateusz Perkowski  |  March 11, 2025  |  Capital Press Public interest considerations couldn’t weigh on water rights transfers under an Oregon House bill, clashing with Senate legislation that would strengthen environmental reviews of such transactions. Proponents say House Bill 3501 would simply preserve the “status quo,” since state water regulators already don’t consider the

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Work Continues on Pomeroy Dam Project, Improving Illinois River Health

By Brinkley Hill  |  March 7, 2025  |  KDRV News The Pomeroy Dam was demolished and removed from the Illinois River during the summer of 2024, but the overall project continues this spring with infrastructure improvements to benefit native fish habitat and river ecosystems. WaterWatch of Oregon, a statewide environmental organization focused on streamflows and

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Irrigator Group Wants More “Teeth” for Aquifer Recharge Proposal

By Mateusz Perkowski  |  Feb. 14, 2025  |  Capital Press  Oregon lawmakers are considering a bill to expedite aquifer recharge projects but a group of irrigators is questioning whether the proposal goes far enough. Under House Bill 2988, state agencies would be directed to “reduce barriers” and expand the practice of recharging aquifers, which included

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Officials Remove Antiquated Pomeroy Dam After 125 Years — Here’s Why It’s Worth Celebrating

By Claire Huber  |  Jan. 27, 2025  |  The Cool Down The privately-owned Pomeroy Dam in southern Oregon has been removed from the Illinois River. As detailed by KLCC Radio, removing this dam will allow migratory fish native to the Illinois River to pass the irrigation dam’s original site without harm for the first time

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The Caddis Fly: Support New Instream Water Rights in the South Willamette Basin

The Caddis Fly  |  Jan. 12, 2025  |  Oregon Fly Fishing Blog Last spring the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) announced it applied for over 260 new instream water rights in the Willamette River system to protect instream flows for native fish and wildlife in the North Willamette, Mid-Willamette, and South Willamette basins.

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Winchester Dam Remains in Hot Water

By Gloria Coleman  |  Dec. 23, 2024  |  Roseburg News-Review On Sept. 17, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) issued a Notice of Noncompliance to the Winchester Water Control District (WWCD) regarding the Winchester Dam. The notice highlighted unauthorized repair activities, including concrete capping and foam injections, which deviated from the 2022 temporary

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OSU Study Underscores Need for State Regulation to Avert Economic, Ecological Crisis in Harney Basin

By Alejandro Figueroa  |  Dec. 4, 2024  |  Oregon Public Broadcasting The Harney Basin region in southeast Oregon sits in a semi-arid high desert. Yet, it’s dotted with green circles of water-hungry alfalfa grown for cattle feed. For years, scientists have closely studied the basin to get a more clear picture of just how much

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Private Equity Firm Sortis Backs Thornburgh Resort as it Fights for Central Oregon Water Rights

By Emily Cureton Cook  |  Nov. 25, 2024  |  Oregon Public Broadcasting A planned destination resort draws on deep pockets to battle state regulators in a high-stakes court case. In the witness box of a Deschutes County Circuit courtroom this month, Kameron DeLashmutt told the story of his connection to nearly 2,000 waterless acres near

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Groups Demand State, Federal Action on Nitrate Pollution in Letters to Oregon Governor, EPA

By Alex Baumhardt  |  Oct. 31, 2024  |  Oregon Capital Chronicle More than 20 groups across the U.S. said nitrate from farm fertilizers and manure is contaminating drinking water and disproportionately hurting rural communities. Nonprofit community groups in Oregon and nationwide are calling on elected leaders and officials at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

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First Sighting of Salmon in 100 Years Marks Key Milestone for Landmark Dam Removals

By Kurtis Alexander  |  Oct. 4, 2024  |  San Francisco Chronicle In an early victory for the nation’s largest dam removal project, the first salmon in more than a century is believed to have pushed up the Klamath River this past week into waters formerly blocked by dams. Scientists with the nonprofit California Trout told

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Water Resources Commission Adopts Update to Groundwater Allocation Rules

By KTVZ Staff  |  Sept. 12, 2024  |  KTVZ News The Oregon Water Resources Commission voted unanimously Thursday to adopt updates to Oregon’s groundwater allocation rules, “marking a historic step in how the state manages and allocates groundwater,” according to the agency and its supporters while critics of the new rules said they will press

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Groundwater Rights in Oregon Just Got Even More Valuable — Here’s Why

By Emily Cureton Cook  |  Sept. 12, 2024 |  Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon water regulators have spent the last three years working on a plan to prevent groundwater declines that could cause roughly 40,000 home wells statewide to dry up. That plan now has a crucial greenlight. The Oregon Water Resources Commission unanimously voted for

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Jim McCarthy on Campaign to Remove Winchester Dam on JPR’s Jefferson Exchange

Hosted by Mike Green  |  Sept. 11, 2024 |  Jefferson Public Radio Jim McCarthy, Southern Oregon program director at WaterWatch of Oregon, joined the Jefferson Exchange to discuss the controversy over incomplete repairs of the 134-year-old Winchester Dam on the North Umpqua River in Douglas County, and the growing movement to remove it altogether. Listen

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Huge California Dam Removal Project Ahead of Schedule — With Historic Return of Wildlife to Follow

By Kurtis Alexander  |  July 25, 2024  |  San Francisco Chronicle The dams, collectively known as the Klamath Hydroelectric Project, were built between 1911 and 1962 to provide electricity. The nation’s largest dam-removal project is moving along faster than planned, with the demolition work on the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border due to wrap

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U.S. Would Keep More Hydropower Under Agreement with Canada on Treaty Governing Columbia River

By Gene Johnson  |  July 11, 2024  |  Associated Press The U.S. and Canada said Thursday they have agreed to update a six-decade-old treaty that governs the use of one of North America’s largest rivers, the Columbia, with provisions that officials said would provide for effective flood control, irrigation, and hydropower generation and sharing between

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